By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
SWANTON (December 30, 2025) – There were times when Delta didn’t look like the 8-0 team that they are in the Bob Fisher Holiday Classic championship game against Swanton.
The Panthers shot just 34 percent for the game, including only 27 percent in the opening quarter. But the Panthers forced 37 Swanton turnovers to get 40 more shots at the rim and went on to a 55-18 rout in the championship contest.
“A lot of tonight was about getting a lot of girls in the game,” Panther coach Kelsey Gillen said. “It was a chance to have opportunities to work on things, and we still need to work on some more, but still coming out and using our pressure to create scoring chances at the other end. Our offense is still created by our defense.”
The Panthers had a multitude of missed layups in the opening stanza as they shot 6-22 from the floor. However, 11 Bulldog miscues led to a load of second-chance hoops off their own misses to take a 15-3 lead.
Keagyn Gillen, Anna Lohman, Addison Wyse, and Olivia Mohring all scored putback buckets to give the Panthers a comfortable lead.
Swanton did get as close as 17-9 in the second when Lexie Yeager’s long-range missile went in, and Lauren Bettinger fired one off the glass and through from outside the arc with 5:40 left.
Lohman countered those baskets with a trio of steals and dishes to Mohring, Wyse and Gillen, then added another of her own to help boost the Panthers ahead 30-11 at the half. The Panthers put the game on ice in the third with a 16-0 run.
Gillen had two baskets during the stretch with Abbey Todd and Lohman each adding a triple. McKenzie Kruger had a steal and scored, and Anabell Gillen capped the run with a putback that made it 46-13.
Delta reached the running clock rule on Olivia Siewertsen’s basket with 2:12 left as 11 Panthers reached the scoring column.
Keagyn Gillen had 13 to pace the Panthers and Lohman added 11. Delta plays Otsego Friday, then turns around the next day and hosts Stryker. Swanton hosts Patrick Henry on Friday in their NWOAL opener.
SWANTON (18) Yeager 3; Hamrick 0; Rominski 0; Bettinger 7; Cooper 0; LaPoint 2; Lagrange 3; Ventimiglia 2; Totals: 4-3-1 – 18
DELTA (55) Maynhart 2; Lohman 11; Todd 5; Kruger 2; Martinez 5; A. Gillen 2; Mohring 9; Wyse 4; K. Gillen 13; Hilyard 0; Siewertsen 2; Totals: 21-2-7 – 55
SHS 3 8 5 2 – 18
DHS 15 15 18 7 – 55